May 19, 2017

It is true that Afghanistan has been engulfed in an atmosphere of racism and hate, and it is also true that the victim has always been the Hazaras. They have long been persecuted, but now we are living in a new era and the Hazaras have a better place than before. Though they are not religiously and racially persecuted, still they experience a great deal of discrimination and unfair treatment in various ways in their home country. Having said that, after their non-violent reform movement hit by a series of suicide attacks that left at least 97 dead and more than 250 injured, there has been growing anger filled with assortments of antigovernment rhetoric and confrontational lineups among some Hazara intellectuals inside and outside Afghanistan that could be interpreted differently.

The Internet, especially Facebook has provided a platform for this group to express their anger and dislike of Ashraf Ghani's government in many forms. In their eyes, the current administration has become so lenient towards the Taliban and too Pashtun-centric that it has allocated most of foreign resources to Pashtun areas where every investment project went to waste. They are probably right. Most of foreign assistance spent on public infrastructure like schools, hospitals that bridges in volatile areas where the Taliban burned them down. In contrast, they argue that investment and reconstruction in most peaceful areas like in central Afghanistan where mostly Hazara people live is either ignored or spent dearth of what has spent in the south or other parts of Afghanistan.

However, this is not what the tittle of this post suggests. While, to some degree, I do believe that resources for the past 16 years have been wasted and of course Hazarajat has been neglected, I think the statements that nowadays some Hazara intellectuals make against the government indicates a great degree of intolerance and bias. For instance, a few days ago when Ghani went to Bamiyan for inauguration of the second phase of North-South corridor connecting Dare-e-Suf district to Yakawlang district in neighboring Bamiyan province, they reacted with deep ambivalence about believing or accepting what has finally been taking place in Hazarajat. Instead of celebrating and welcoming the project, many Facebook users criticized Ashraf Ghani for carrying a Hazara little girl on his shoulders as a cunning scheme to outwit the Hazaras by showing sympathy while doing nothing.

This is the very reason that I wrote my previous blog post in opposition to a protest in front of the Asian Developing Bank building in Washington D.C. planned for May 22. I have noticed that some of these individuals unequivocally reject what has so far been achieved. Such protests would be beneficial if campaigners would not presuppose their statements based on anger and resistance, but factual information which would help the observer to pay attention to their cause. Maintaining negative attitudes towards everyone and everything the government does, not only overshadows the prospect of future nonviolent movements, but also creates sentiment that would echo racism and prejudice. Racism plus power is dangerous but racism minus power could also be menacing and that is the one thing from which we must stay away.